CALGARY -- I have very little to report to you that will be considered 'new information' here, so I'll bring some new stuff in as we go along – today's topic will be civic infrastructure.
Extreme cold warnings continue with no abatement for another couple of days, where wind chill values below -40 are expected with far more normalcy than many would like. At that temperature, exposed skin can freeze in ten minutes or less.
By the weekend, the polar vortex destabilizes and we start to see a modicum of return to seasonal – such a return from this bitter cold will take time, but we can still anticipate an optimistic shift by the beginning of the weekend.
Now to the new issue: infrastructure problems. With temperatures like this, underground pipes can become brittle, which increases their external pressure. As we start to warm, those pipes will expand, and some areas may burst. I'm expecting Sunday to be particularly challenging for the Calgary Works Department.
Here's the five-day forecast:
Today:
- Mainly sunny
- Daytime high: -24 C
- Evening: some cloud, low -29 C
Wednesday:
- Scattered flurries, some sun
- Daytime high: -27 C
- Evening: mainly clear, low -32 C
Thursday:
- Mainly sunny
- Daytime high: -27 C
- Evening: mainly clear, low -28 C
Friday:
- Partly cloudy
- Daytime high: -22 C
- Evening: mainly clear, low -26 C
Saturday:
- Partly cloudy
- Daytime high: -16 C
- Evening: mainly clear, low -19 C
People are the best.
We've officially hit "Alright, let's have some fun" levels of cold out there.
Like Dianne, here:
And, with boiling water freezing near-instantaneously in these temperatures, Carie had a bit of fun, too!
You can submit your weather photos here, oremail me here! Kevin Stanfield
